Duels of the Planeswalkers
by Kevinthejace
Summary: People say I write good fight scenes, so I've decided to write how I imagined each Duel Deck fight took place. These'll just be a series of one shots about the numerous famous battles amongst Planeswalkers. They probably won't line up with the cannon lore, though.
1. Ajani Goldmane vs Nicol Bolas

The Conflux Maelstrom was devastating. As all five shards of Alara collided together in a mass of chaos, Nicol Bolas roared with villainous laughter. The Dragon watched in awe as his plans came together. He watched as dissention happened throughout those orderly enforcers of Bant and Esper as the world was ravaged by Jund natives and Grixis demons. Bolas felt mana surge through him. It was exhilarating. Oceans of mana surrounded him. A bountiful cornucopia of ill-gotten power at his fingertips.

"Nicol Bolas!" A voice shouted behind him.

Ajani Goldmane. Persistent swine. Bolas hadn't bothered to turn around. It seemed the leonin was able to breach his defenses from the Conflux. But, no matter how powerful Goldmane was, he couldn't take hold of the true power within the Eye of the Conflux.

"Ah, Ajani Goldmane. What business have you here?" His voice echoed deep throughout.

"I've come to confront you!"

Bolas stifled a laugh, "You dare defy my power? You're a fool. You think you can defeat with the power of companionship? Where are your friends again? Oh yes, I remember. I killed them. Your pridemates are but specks of dust."

"My pride will not die in vain! Together, with my fellow planeswalkers, Justice will always be dealt! Your evil must be cleansed!"

Bolas turned to the leonin. Standing with him, were Elspeth Tirel, Sarkhan Vol and Tezzeret. The last two, being former servants of him.

"I haven't the time for you." The dragon waved his claw, "Go bother another godlike being. As for you betrayers, I will make you know fear."

Ajani roared and brandished his twin headed axe.

"Do you really want to do this, Leonin?"

Ajani bared his fangs.

"Then run. Run as fast as you can. That's the only way you could possibly survive this."

Ajani yelled a battlecry and charged forward.

Bolas raised his two hands. Dragon lightning blasted from them, bombarding them with magic.

Ajani used spells to increase his strength and speed. He leapt off the ground, aiming the head of his axe at the dragon.

Out of the corner of his eye, Ajani caught sight of a glint of gold. He turned to see Bolas's claw about to backhand him off the face of the multiverse.

The mass hit the Leonin like an archmage's force magic magnified a thousand times. Ajani was sent flying into the edge of Bolas's magical defense against the Conflux. He screamed in pain as he made contact with the barrier, taking in all the unstable power from outside.

A bolt of white light blasted Bolas's jaw. It didn't hurt, but he found it offensive.

"You imbecilic little brat!" Elspeth had been the source of that light, "Die." Bolas raised his foot and let it slam down upon Elspeth. She held her spear up as to create a shield. The dome of magic surrounding her sunk half underground as Bolas crushed his foot into it. Granted, the Conflux made it stronger, but it was still nothing. Bolas crushed the barrier and crushed Elspeth underfoot. He removed it. Damn. She was still alive. Invincibility magic. Of course.

Bolas caught Tezzeret's spike of metal without even looking. He crushed it and sent a hail of fire upon the artificer.

"There is no greater folly than standing against me, Tezzeret. You of all people should know that. I save this spell for all who betray me. Cruel Ultimatum!"

The artificer screamed as Bolas invaded his mind and made him suffer horrific agonies.

Bolas turned to Vol, "You as well, Vol." Bolas snapped his fingers. Sarkhan clutched his head. Until Vol simply imploded and ceased to exist. Bolas chuckled, "I have got to stop doing that. Bad for my health."

* * *

Ajani stood. Thanks to the excess of mana, he was able to heal himself. He tightened his grip on his axe. He created two portals into the Aether. Soldiers from all manner of worlds marched from them to assist their summoner in battle.

This was a gateway for the Bant armies, led by Rafiq of the Many, to enter the Eye of the Conflux without dying in the maelstrom.

Bolas turned back to Ajani after dealing with Sarkhan and Tezzeret.

"An army? Adorable. But you realize that by bringing these men here, you've killed them all, yes?"

"They nobly volunteered to help me defeat you, dragon."

"Nobly? This is a suicide mission."

"Fire!" Ajani shouted.

The Bant army released the contents of their loaded artillery. Flaming rocks and large heaps of magic flew through the golden sky.

Bolas conjured magic from the Conflux in his claw. A white, blue, black, red and green orb circled the golden magic in Bolas's grasp. The tiny piece of the Conflux siphoned off bits of magic that would counter spells and destroy boulders, resulting in zero hits by the artillery.

But, the soldier had already begun their assault. Volleys upon volleys of dragon arrows flew through the sky as masses of cavalry advanced on the dragon.

Bolas summoned an army of his own. He thought it was all a game! It was just a game to him! His soldiers were faceless, wearing golden armor with an iconic pair of horns covering it. Even their weapons resembled the dragon's horns.

Bolas's army retaliated against Bant, archmages releasing dragon flames and warriors igniting their weapons in death magic.

Ajani stared wide-eyed as the forces of bant were decimated by Bolas's army. The feeling of desolation within Ajani was near indescribable. The horror of brutal slaughter in front of him destroyed him mentally. He really had just sent these people to die. It was his fault he couldn't stop Bolas's agents in the first place. He was a murderer. He killed these soldiers. Innocents who only wanted safety for their families and friends.

Regretting your folly? The dragon was inside his head. Ajani didn't care. I wouldn't blame you.

"How could I have done something like this?" Ajani spoke aloud.

You knew you never truly had a chance. You convinced yourself you could win through conviction and teamwork. Such is the fate of those with moral compasses.

"Morals? Is that why they're dying? Because I was trying so hard to be a good person?"

Your close mindedness was your downfall.

"No! Each and everyone of these soldiers knew the risk of facing you, dragon! I will not stand idly by as your servants genocide masses!"

White bands of magic rippled against Ajani and his axe. He let out a mighty roar before charging into the battlefield.

Bolas sent a rippling lightning bolt through the air. Ajani knocked it out of his path with his axe and slammed his weapon into the ground. Light shot through the ground, bolstering his allies and blasting radiant magic at Bolas. He stumbled a bit, but was otherwise unharmed. He was however, infuriated.

Bolas got down on all fours like a regular dragon. His claws colliding with the ground crushed both his soldiers and the opposition's.

He spewed hellfire from his mouth. He scrambled like a salamander across the field, then pushed himself off the ground and landed upright, looking down on Ajani. He gave a great roar, ripping the land from its place with its sheer power. His wings expanded as storms gather upon the sight of their battle.

"How about we settle this like true planeswalkers, Goldmane. In a battlefield of the Blind Eternities. A true testament to a archmage's abilities. A duel of Planeswalkers."

"Let's." Ajani growled.

Nicol Bolas began to shimmer. He was planeswalking. Ajani concentrated and could feel himself doing the same. He reappeared in...not a plane. Rather a space between them. The battlefield was a mountain range, filled with pulsating maelstroms and storms and lightning.

Bolas ominous shadow loomed over head. The only thing visible of the dragon was his silhouette and his glowing emerald eyes. Ajani cried out and struck at Bolas with a streak of white magic Bolas countered the spell and jettisoned hellfire from his other claw. Ajani pulsed with invincibility.

Ajani summoned a mass of creatures.

Bolas damned them to hell. The dragon then proceeded to unleash a flurry of unrelenting dark magics. Ajani suffered through every terrible, agonizing, painful spell.

"Your attempt was admirable, Goldmane," the dragon cackled, "But you're wasting my valuable time. Yet, your pathetic ideas lie in shambles, Planeswalker. Where is your arrogant pride now? I am a god. I am fear incarnate. I am chaos. I am the sole most powerful being in the multiverse. To be able to stand against me is truly impressive. As a parting gift, I will give this nugget of wisdom. Do the innocent pay for the crimes of the guilty? Of course they do. That's the fate of the weak."

"No!" Ajani strained.

"Goodbye, little hero. Obliterate."

Before Ajani planeswalked, the last thing he saw was a flash of red light. The last thing he thought of? Cowardice. As he moved through the Blind Eternities, he counted his blessings that he was able to escape. He continued to remind himself of the power of Nicol Bolas. Alara was to be forever lost. Bolas's machinations were too much for any plane to survive. If the multiverse were ever destroyed, Bolas would be the cause of it. The thought made Ajani shiver. He only hoped that some of his allies would make it out alive.

In the back of his mind, Ajani could hear a little voice whispering, "Long live the Emperor of Planes. Long live the God of the Multiverse. Hail the great conqueror. The Forever Serpent. The bane of all that lives, dies and has yet to be birthed. Hail Chaos. Hail Bolas."


	2. Jace Beleren vs Chandra Nalaar

Jace emerged from the Blind Eternities onto the plane called Regatha. The Infinite Consortium had commissioned him to find and retrieve an ancient scroll. And to wipe away the memories of its thief.

Jace shimmered in the light just slightly before disappearing. He couldn't risk being spotted.

Regatha, or at least the part of Regatha where he showed up, was a volcanic environment. Igneous rock covered the ground as magma rivers flowed throughout the biome. Jace cast a quick spell to relieve himself of the heat.

Jace could see through the ash, a monastery. Probably the one he was looking for. There weren't any buildings or artificial anything within miles.

Jace climbed the terrain until he reached the monastery. He slipped past two monks and knocked out those patrolling the hallways.

At last, he entered a large hall, where he caught sight of a woman who matched the thief's description talking with another monk. Jace delved into her mind. Chandra Nalaar. She had the scroll.

It wasn't until the monk pointed at him, did Jace realize his invisibility spell wore off.

"Hey! Who are you?" Chandra shouted.

Jace made a run for it. Chandra was faster. She hurled a ball of flame at Jace. He narrowly dodged it. Pyromancer. Should've known.

Jace lit his hands with mind magic and stood to face his opponent.

Chandra's hair had become fire, as did her eyes and fists. She let out a battle cry and charged in. Jace put a Kamigawan martial art he'd learned into use, redirecting his opponent's brute force against them. He grabbed her wrist and pressed his palm into her elbow, forcing her to turn and threw her in the opposite direction.

"Chandra, you took something that doesn't belong to you." Jace said.

"How do you know my name?" Chandra snarled.

"I can read minds. For example, you're seriously thinking about burning my flesh off."

Chandra hurled another ball of fire. Jace scattered it into the Æther. Chandra responded with a flurry of fiery jabs, each releasing a bolt of flame of its own. Jace created a sphere around him. The bolts dissolved upon contact with the shield. Jace grabbed hold of the water in a well and created a barrage of ice crystals. He launched the projectiles.

Chandra melted them with a blast of flame. She shot herself forward, propelling her flaming fist into Jace's jaw. Jace flew back, but recovered quickly. Chandra summoned a Phoenix like elemental and sent it to attack. Jace extinguished it and summoned a bunch of illusory eels to confuse her. Jace then fired a blue projectile. The bolt of magic hit her square in the forehead. Chandra looked dazed. Jace had stunned her. He walked up to her and searched her for the scroll. It wasn't on her.

Suddenly, a red haired kid ran into the hallway they fought in, "Chandra! I have the scroll!"

Jace looked at him. The child reeled, "I need that scroll." He approached the boy. He ran. Jace caught him around the ankle with illusionary rope, "Give me the scroll and I won't hurt anyone."

"Hurt anyone? You can't hurt anyone. You use mind magic. It's weak."

Jace rolled his eyes and knocked the kid out with magic. He grabbed the scroll and turned to erase Chandra's memories. She was gone. Damn.

Jace felt the blast of fire he half expected hit him in the back. He hit the floor with an echoing crash.

"What did you do to him?" Chandra yelled.

"Relax, I put him to sleep." Jace replied as he stood back up. He and Chandra both glanced down at the dragon scroll rolling about on the ground. Chandra blasted herself forward, but Jace was quicker with an illusory chain. Chandra redirected her flight path, grabbed the scroll and wrenched it from Jace's grip. Chandra then intensified the jets of fire from her feet and crashed through the window. She flew off into the smoky sky.

Jace backed up to the wall and ran forward, creating a pair of psionic wings. He flew through the volcanic smog at his top speed until he found Chandra. He gave one last push before dissipating the wings and grabbing onto Chandra. Chandra knocked him off, but Jace grappled himself to her with illusory rope.

"Let go!" Chandra yelled.

"Not until you give me that scroll!" Jace began climbing the rope. He could see Chandra begin to shimmer, "Oh no you don't!" Jace climbed faster, beginning to shimmer himself. He grabbed Chandra's leg. Then, they vanished.

Jace hurled through the Blind Eternities, chasing the pyromancer. In which direction, he did not know.

He rematerialized on another plane. Zendikar. Chandra had already gathered her bearings and began running. Jace's eyes burned blue as he locked up Chandra's muscles, paralyzing her. He walked over to grab the scroll and let her go once she had it.

The ground felt warm. Too warm. Hot! Burning! Jace summoned his wings and lifted himself off the ground. The rocky ground had become magma, thanks to the Pyromancer.

Jace turned and froze the magma over. He dissipated his wings and fell into a spinning kick. Chandra blocked the strike and retaliated with a flaming fist. Jace ducked and swept at Chandra's leg. Chandra fell, but produced jets of fire from her feet to ward off any future attacks. She rocketed herself off the ground and summoned a Phoenix. Jace whip lashed his hand, firing out an illusory phantom. He then proceeded to summon an illusionary dragon and angel.

Chandra killed the dragon and angel. She returned her focus to Jace, but he had disappeared. Or rather, turned invisible. Evidenced by the unseen force that socked her across the face. And shoved a knee into her gut. Chandra blasted fire at what she thought was where Jace was, but she missed.

Jace began to Planeswalk, until Chandra met him in the Blind Eternities. And tackled him.

* * *

Chandra found the blue sometimes-invisible man in the Eternities. She had gone through so much to get that scroll and she wasn't about to let some cloaked mystery man steal it back.

She woke up in a place she'd never been before. It didn't feel like a plane.

"What the hell?!" The blue man shouted, "You tackled us into a battlefield of the Blind Eternities!"

"A what?"

"You've forced us to duel! You idiot! I don't have time for this!"

Chandra ran passed him, grabbing the scroll.

Jace gritted his teeth. The arena was a volcanic island in the middle of endless ocean. Good. Lots of blue mana. He dug his fingers into the sand. Before him, the sand swirled into a cyclone illuminated by blue light. The sand began attaching itself to the light source, forming a shape reminiscent of a large cat. The sand blasted off to reveal a sphinx. It roared and sank into the stance of a prowler. The Sphinx bared its fangs.

Chandra summoned an elemental, but a quick blast of water got rid of it in no time. Jace pointed at Chandra, "Get that scroll."

Chandra faced the beast head on and delivered a fiery uppercut to it. Jace took the opportunity to attack. He delivered a swift kick to her side and dodged a flame engulfed retaliation. He and Chandra traded multiple blows with both spells and martial strikes. He redirected a fireball. She swung with her left fist. He blocked her punch and struck the elbow. She slammed the back of her head into Jace's. Jace grabbed her ankle and caused her to fall. Chandra spun in a flurry of fiery kicks as she got herself up. Jace empowered his fist with force magic and aimed for her gut. Chandra blocked the attack, but flew back into the sand.

Chandra dug her fingers into the ground. Her hair and eyes caught on fire as the island began rumbling. Jace turned to the volcano. She was forcing it to erupt.

Jace began gathering as much water as possible. He formed a dome of water above him as the first explosion set off. Chunks of rock rained from the sky. Those that would've crushed Jace were caught by his giant bubble of water. The magma that entered cooled immediately and became rock. He manipulated the currents to fire the volcanic rocks back out at Chandra.

Chandra engulf herself in flames and ran at Jace. The force of her body slammed into Jace, forcing him out of his shield's radius. Jace, in response, slammed the water onto Chandra and froze it solid. He didn't have time to make another water dome, so instead, he sacrifice a large sum of mana to create a rift shield. Anything that touched it would be thrown into the Æther.

Chandra heated herself up. As much as she could. To the point where she was like a human star. The heated melted the ice from the inside. She twisted a tiny valve on the pipe that wrapped around her arm and shoulder. Æthereal gas began hissing from it. Unlike Jace, Chandra was chock full of mana.

Jace heard Chandra's thoughts. Gas? Shit. Jace veiled himself in invisibility and created illusory clones of himself. Some went to attack Chandra, some ran, and some kept up the rift shield.

The real Jace waded into the ocean, bathing in the surge of mana. He only stayed for a while before coming back to land and tackling Chandra. He pinned her down and began performing a memory wiping spell. Chandra head butted him and stole the scroll. Jace quickly fired a ball of ocean water and her and froze her feet to the ground. Jace quickly got up, but was knocked back over by a fire cat. Jace grabbed the beast's head and made it forget how to breathe. Chandra was already on the run, flying away with fire jets at her feet. Jace attached two very long illusory ropes to two large rock formations and slingshot himself over to Chandra, once again summoning his wings.

Jace's eyes glow with an intense blue as his mind took over Chandra's body. He couldn't do it for long.

Chandra land on the coast as Jace fell into the ocean, exhausted. He used as much mana as his body would allow him to channel and summoned an army of water Elementals, illusions and mages that all came from the sea to attack and neutralize Chandra.

Jace slowly made his way to land.

His creatures had pinned Chandra down.

"Who do you think you are? I'll burn you alive! Rrrrrrraaaagh!" Chandra struggled and squirmed. Any fires were immediately extinguished.

Jace knelt down next to her and pocketed the scroll and placed his hands on Chandra's temples.

"What are you-" Chandra fell silent as her and Jace's eyes glowed blue.

Jace dug around for any information on the scroll, gathered it and wiped it away. He then found all memories of himself in there and erased them as well.

When he exited Chandra's mind, she was asleep. Jace, with the scroll began to shimmer as he left this battlefield and departed for Ravnica.


End file.
